Ramstein Maibock | High Point Brewing Company

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Notes / Commercial Description:
Rich Amber bock beer brewed with imported Munich and Pilsner Malts and fermented with a rare lager yeast. This beer has a deep malt character and body with a hint of toffee in the aroma. The Noble hops balance the richness of the malts and provide a complex profile that hides the 7% abv.

On tap at the brewery and out of a filled 2 liter growler. Crystal clear yellow orange with a white lasting head. Clean malty aroma, the way a lager should be. Big long malty flavor that lasts on the tongue. Crisp, clean finish. Slight hop note in the background. This years is the best ever. Great mai-bock!!!! I wish this were more available, but alas. Hopefully the standard established by this years batch can be maintained in the years to come...

A deep copper pour with some amber notes topped with an off-white pillow of foam that really hangs around. Aroma full of sweet fruits, malts, and grains. A delicious orange aroma really makes it a nice sniffer. Some hops blend in near perfection to add to an already complex treat for the nose.

Oranges blend with a big malt character to start you off. A beautiful hop presence balances it out to a masterpiece. Dry bready aftertaste in the end, and maybe you can pick up a tiny bit of alcohol, but you really have to look for it. It is smooth with a very light carbonation. The body is as full as it could be for the style with loads of flavor. I could drink this brew all day long. I am sorry I did not pick up a growler for Easter, but the one I have will not last long at all. A beautiful drinker, that is complex with flavor and aroma. The mouthfeel is excellent, and it looks damn good too. This is not one to miss, but unfortunately many people will.

Served in a shaker pint glass. Glass of cold water on the side to sip from periodically.

Appearance: The beer as served is a clear copper/bronze color with a ½” off white head that recedes visibly and evenly. As the head recedes it leaves no lacing on the sides of the glass, but sipping results in a ring of foam and some patches and legs of lacing that slide back down the glass into the foam. Most all of the head is gone by about midway through the beer.

Smell: The aromas include some toasted bready/biscuity malt with floral and spicy hops well in the background.

Taste: The flavors are much as expected from the nose with the bready malt playing nicely with the floral, spicy hops. There is no real sign of the alcohol here except possibly in some of the sweetness early on in the sip.

Mouthfeel: The mouth feel is medium bodied and quite smooth with lots fo fine bubbled carbonation. The finish is medium length and works well in that it begins in the sweet maltiness and slides into some spicy dryness as the malt recedes and the hops come into play.

Drinkability and Overall Impression: This is an easy sipper of a beer and each sip follows the earlier one quite naturally. I’ll certainly be having this one again. In addition it was an excellent counterpoint to the seafood gumbo that was lunch. The paring worked well in that the malt countered the spiciness of the Gumbo and both played off of each other quite nicely. My overall impression is of a well made maibock that demonstrates nicely that good German style beers can be made in the US.

Spring's here and so is the the new Ramstein Maibock, now let's see what we have...

Well, this beer poured yielding a large white head that lasts for quite awhile then reduces to lace the glass and cover a clear deep golden brew with an 1/8" layer.

A moderately malty toasted aroma that blends well with a noble hop presence.

Rich, clean, malty and a balanced hop bitterness/malt flavor
Flavors I think that could only develop by using German malts and hops.
Initial pale bock taste followed by a light sweetness then finishing medium body, creamy texture with a soft fizz

Appearance: Almost a crystal-like brown hue, this Bier left me a wonderous head to behold upon its tapping.

Smell: Rather clean and none too cloying. A good balance between freshly cut hay and maltiness.

Taste & Mouth Feel: The maltiness on the palate is smooth, and the flavor is deep and rich, again, thanks to the malt.

Drinkability & Notes: Not heavy, by any means, this one went down very easily, and rather well. The ABV will sneak up on you however, and it is rather filling, so I would not recommend drinking too many of them. Still, a fantastic representation of the style.

Into a pint glass, it poured an amber/golden hue, with over two fingers of white head, generous amounts of carbonation, great head retention, and very good lacing. Smelled very malty, with caramel, apple, and some herbal noble hop notes. The taste was a little more pronounced than the nose, with a very nicely balanced fruit/maltiness, and finishing on a crisp dry note. Medium- to thick-bodied, but when mixed with the generous carbonation, it creates a nice mouth sensation. Very feint hint of heightened alcohol content makes this yet another dangerously drinkable beer from these guys. I think I see a trend here...

A finger-and-a-half firm flathead appears, then flattens, leaving just a covering, attribuable to either the ABV, or that the filler didn't capture all the carbonation he should have. It's always best to have Brewmaster Greg fill the growlers himself, but that doesn't happen at Open House.

The body is a delightful shiny copper penny, glistening in a tall glass.

Nose yields a bit of yeast, and some clean sweetness, including some caramel.

Taste is rich, balanced, clean, and subtle. A malt barge sails across the tongue, laying down a thick but not overpowering base. A delightful taste of honey settles onto the tongue. Enough hops stowaway on the barge to balance the malt, prevent cloying and syrupiness, but these hops never quite force their way into your attention. This is a Navy Seal Team of hops, working in the shadows. As usual for High Point, somehow the alcohol gets buried in all this, present but never a turn off. And it is rare to find a bock that finishes this clean.

Mouthfeel is thick and rich but not syrupy. It coasts but doesn't stick. Drinkability is once again "Scary".

This will be hard to find. Don't wait for the nest open house. Grab a growler, call Greg, and ask when he can fill it. Get yourself up to the brewery. Try all his beers.

Growler filled at the brewery and consumed on release day, 3.13.10. Super fresh.

Pours a gorgeous stawberry blonde with a modest creamy head that dissipates quickly, but hey, it's a growler. Good lace.

Aroma is of earthy noble hops, biscuity malts, and a touch of alcohol.

Flavor is an exercise in balance. This maibock is definitely somewhat of a malt bomb, because you can taste the sweet, bready character, but it never seems heavy. A nondescript bitterness and hop flavor balances the malty character. Alcohol is not apparent until the finish, which is decidedly bitter and tea-like. Carbonation has held well, medium-low. There's something about this beer that keeps you wanting more and more: so satisfying and yet drinkable in large quantities. This growler might not last the night!

High Point did something extraordinary with this maibock: that is, they brewed a beer in New Jersey that tastes like it could have come from Bavaria. A pleasure to drink. A.

Amber orange with a clingy white head and a fruity tootsie-roll smell. Tasted like caramel, brown sugar, spiced apples and Milk Balls that have been stripped of their chocolate coating. And a wee, wee, wee bit o' hops. Great smooth mouthfeel with a lower than average carbonation that helps bring out the flavor. Shocking that a) this is 7.5ABV? b) it's being served to me in a 20oz glass and c) I want another one. And another. Hell I could drink this all night. I'm in a bar surrounded by fabulous, expensive Belgian beers and this is the $5 20oz tap special and I could STILL drink it all night. Wow.

This might be the best maibock I've ever had. The balance of flavors is perfect. The only think I could say is I wish it was a touch stronger in taste. It had this pairs of the sweet, cherry and red licorice malt sweetness with underlying crisp biscuit and a hit of grassy herbal hops for balance. Some maibocks are too plain, or are too sweet, this beer is just damn tasty.

Excellent maibock was had on-tap at Tria in Philly. Poured with a nice head. Brown/amber-ish color. Toffee flavors combined with a smooth mouthfeel. When drinking it I didn't think "toffee". That I borrowed from someone else. "Nice, clean bock flavors" was what I was thinking.

T--Follows the nose until you get to the finish, whose serious bittering from hops gives this brew an American stamp. Up until that point you get a light wave of honey and fruit dance around until a very satisfying juicy malt hits. The sweetness, again, is subdued, such that it's a lighter, and you don't get the rich, molasses and toffee and caramel so much as a kiss of honey and bright fruity notes. Bitter finish is heavily tannic, and the whole thing is almost reminiscent of an ESB, like a lagered ESB, as oxymoronic as that may sound.

M&D--Mouthfeel's bright, fresh, spritzy. Spot on. Drinkability is well above-average, as the alcohol is nearly untraceable to me and round balanced flavor profile makes you want more and more.

Very good example of the style. One of the best American version you're gonna get from a brewery that quietly makes top notch German-styled beers.

Appearance: This was a very interesting color: part glowing UK bitter, part tupelo honey. Generated a beautiful, tight, long-lasting barely off-white head (even the plastic sample glasses at High Point). Laced even the plastic sample cups.

Smell: Both strongly malty and quite spicy. This year&#8217;s edition clearly leans heavily on the hops side of the scale.

Taste: The malts are more present in the mouth than on the nose, but this year&#8217;s version steps more heavily on the hops (to great effect). Greg Zaccardi confirmed this at the Open House. Very tangy, with enough sweetness to moderate the hoppy sharpness on the palate. Less fruity than I remember from last year and more aggressive than some Maibocks, but still round, complex, and authentic. Alcohol is a bit more upfront than usual in Ramstein beers, but not obtrusive or unpleasant. Finishes fully and with medium length.

Mouthfeel: Possesses a medium body, with good carbonation and a palate-warming sensation. Quite smooth.

Drinkability: A very drinkable beer, with enough of a hint of its potency to warn against overindulgence. A wonderful treat on a crisp spring day, but not likely to replace the Blonde or Classic as a sessional!

Backwash: I don&#8217;t normally review beers in front of the computer, but after a few at yesterday&#8217;s open house and one from the growler last night, I still wanted a &#8220;refresher!&#8221; This is another big winner from Ramstein, which doesn&#8217;t make a bad (or even mediocre) beer. Heaven help its competitors if they decide to stray from their &#8220;mission&#8221; of make great German-style beer; but I guess that would be a bit like Ferrari deciding to make a station wagon! I had last year&#8217;s version later in its life-cycle, so it had mellowed somewhat; but I think I like this year&#8217;s even better. In any event, this is a worthy successor to their Octoberfest, Winter Wheat, and Eisbock.

Appearance  This poured a beautiful, crystalline brown and showed great clarity, which I always enjoy with this style. My glass was filled almost to the top so I didnt get to see much of a head.

Smell  The aroma here is very clean and inviting. Not a style known for its complexity, this Maibock showed good, creamy malts and that was about it.

Taste  This is a big, big Maibock. Certainly the biggest American effort that Ive had to date. The malt flavors here are very deep and bold. This is a heavy hitter.

Mouthfeel  This was on the full side of medium-bodied. Again, I cant stress enough how large and thick this beer is. Having said that, it is incredibly smooth and creamy. This one will melt in your mouth.

Drinkability  I loved this Ramstein to death. It is the first really good Maibock that Ive had here in the US. Dont try to sip this all night long, though. At 7.5% ABV this one is unusually high in alcohol and actually quite filling.

The nose offers delicately toasted and sweet Munich malts alongside a bit of fruitiness and a touch of candy sweetness. Undertones of floral and spicy hops appear as well.

In the mouth it's just delicately crisp with a very-fine bubbled carbonation and medium body that leaves it quite smooth across the palate.

The flavor is almost exactly as the nose suggests it will be, with the addition of a little bit more hop flavor and a just-balancing bitterness that works because of the ballast the alcohol lends. The alcohol is kept nicely reigned in, never emerging unecessarily or leaving any rough edges; and it lends a flicker of spiciness that works well with the spicy hops as it finishes drying, with a slowly receeding maltiness.

Clear amber color with a short off-white head that was revived with each swirl of the glass, leaving some spots of lacing. Smell is of sweet caramel and roasted malts. Taste is on the sweeter side with a hint of alcohol and noble hop bittering. Medium bodied, crisp and smooth feel make this a good brew to drink and welcome the change of season.

On tap at the Blind Tiger.
It pours a tannish copper color with a medium-sized off-white head and some trailing and sticky lacing.
The aroma is mostly of caramel sweet malt. A light smell of chocolate and hint of citrusy hops peak through.
This brew is all about malt. It's rich and creamy and plenty sweet. Caramel and a nice dry malt taste are upfront. Coffee with cream and sugar round out the body.
A mild tea-like and citrusy hop taste provides a little counter to the big malt sweetness. The potent alcohol is barely noticeable. This is a highly gulpable brew!

12 oz pour. Light amber colored and very clear with a small, creamy white head. Mild aroma of toasted bread, caramel, and spicy hops. Clean, lightly toasted malt flavor, nicely balanced with peppery spice from the hops. Medium-light bodied and easier to drink than I remember in past years. In fact, it was just better overall than I remember it. A fresh, clean, smooth Maibock. What a treat to have this great local beer available every Spring.